Sunday, January 30, 2011

These are some shots from my backyard and one of the pretty trees on my street. Being stuck inside with my arm in a cast has not been fun and I get bored stuck in the house after a while. I have been checking out my yardbirds, looking out every window in my house. I did enjoy watching the Food Network and all the cooking shows during my two weeks at home. Maybe someday I will learn how to cook like Giada, Paula Dean and Rachel Ray. I am nearing the end of being stuck in the house. I have a follow up with the doc tomorrow and I am suppose to be able to go back to work on Tuesday.

I do admit I was happy to be able to stay safe at home with the snow storms happening the two weeks I was off work.

Below, seeing blue skies poking thru are very welcome and looking very pretty.

The skies eventually turned all blue and now the snow is falling off the trees. My bird feeders do get busy during snowstorms and they are always fun to watch. I managed to get some OK shots of the bluejay on my deck. Next, I will be feeling blue because I have to be back in the routine of working five days a week and missing my yardbirds.

It will be nice when we do not have to look for our mailbox down the street because the snowplow knocks it off as it goes by.

I did notice that the bluejays like the cracked corn besides peanuts.

I am not really a snow and winter person and I am really looking forward to Spring. It would be great to see some signs of an early spring. The thought of some pretty bluebirds nesting in my yard sounds really nice right now.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Again, I am posting some of my backyard birds for Camera Critters. Being stuck in the house for two weeks after my hand surgery I am only able to check out my backyard birds.

I did notice today that a new backyard bird ..the American Tree Sparrow. A lifer for me even though I thought I had seen these birds on one of my bird club walks. I did not add it to my birding life list. Which now stands at number 259.

The American Tree Sparrow a winter bird for me here in Maryland is easiest id by it's two tone beak. My pic's are not the greatest because the bird was chowing down and would not stay still.

So here are my yardbirds and my new lifer, the American Tree Sparrow. You can see the top part of the beak is dark and the bottom is light colored.

CORRECTION: I have been told by some experts that my id of the Tree Sparrow is not correct, my photo is actually the Song Sparrow. So now my life list goes back down to 258. Oh, well I will keep looking for the Tree Sparrow.

The male Downy Woodpecker seen from my dining room window. Males have the red on the back of their heads.

The White Breasted Nuthatch outside my dining room window

The Carolina Wren ouside my window, they are cute little birds.

Gee, I have been making all kinds of errors on my post. Betsy pointed out my picture below is of the Northern Flicker and not the Yellow Bellied Sapsucker that I saw in the woods across from my driveway. I knew it was a Northern Flicker and sorry I just typed the wrong name.

It is a yellow shafted northern flicker and I was seeing a beautiful flash of yellow from this birds wings as it flew from tree to tree. Being stuck in the house for two weeks I have serious cabin fever and I was going from window to window checking out my birds.

I hope you enjoy my critter post and check out Misty Dawn's Camera Critters to see more cute critters.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

I get to see some pretty birds in the winter months at my feeders. The Pine Siskins and the Red Breasted Nuthatch are two of my favorites.

A few years ago I was host to at least a hundred Pine Siskins. They ate a lot of seed but it was so much fun watching so many on my deck and at my feeders. This year I have been seeing may 4-5 Pine Siskins maybe a little more at times. And sometimes I can see at least 3 Red Breasted Nuthatches at one time.

Below, there are three Pine Siskins on this feeder with a Goldfinch on the feeder below.

One of my favorite webcam shots has the Pine Siskins on the feeder and the Cardinal in flight

The Red Breasted Nuthatch is one of my favorites.

I have been lucky to have a Pine Warbler visit my feeders for the past few years. His bright yellow color sure is a pretty addition to my yard. Sorry, this photo was taken thru my dining room window and is not the best quality.

The Pine Warbler is posing pretty for the birdcam on this shot.

Some of these I took with Canon and others are from my birdcam setup on my deck. I hope you enjoyed my winter birdies.

Some people have asked about my birdcam which was bought at Amazon. Here is a link Wingscapes Birdcam . It takes 4 d size batteries and is weatherproof. It gives you three choices for foccus distances, which is also great. I also have the arm which swivels around is can mount on a shephards hook. I have been really surprised and happy with the photos.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

I thought I mentioned in my blog that I had surgery on my thumb this past Tuesday. It appears my thumb does not like to stay in its proper place and dear Arthur set in from a previous thumb surgery. I must have mentioned it on my other blog. It will be in this cast until I go back for a follow up on the 31st.

These are a few shots from yesterday in my yard. I have been keeping my camera on the tripod at the dining room window. It is easy to snap pic's one handed using the tripod. I'll be happier when my hand is out of this cast. Typing one handed is not fun. Early in the morning I was able to watch the moon setting. Afterwards I enjoyed watching my yardbirds. These are a few of my favorite things that make me happy. Skywatching and birding...both can be addicting and fun.

I think these colors look good together, the moon and blue sky along with the chickadee with the pine tree background. Pretty nature scenes that make me happy.

My cute Carolina Chickadee

The moon setting

A wake me up happy has been found with using my new Keurig (a Christmas present) coffee maker. I am able to use it one handed. I am loving all the different coffee flavors and that it is so simple to use. The Kona and Hazelnut flavors are two of my favorites coffees.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

On these cold dreary winter days I have been enjoying my colorful yardbirds. The Bluejays and the Cardinals really add some color to my yard. Their blue and red colors remind me of the pretty flowers that will be popping up in spring. Yes, I am thinking of and wishing Spring will come here fast. Neither of these two birds migrate so they are here year round and providing pretty colors to my yard. At times there are quite a few of the jays acting like piggies eating the peanuts I put on my deck railing.

Surprisingly just as many or more Cardinals both males and females are also visiting my feeders. The Cardinals look breathtaking in any snowy backyard. Come spring my Cardinal couple will chase off any other Cardinals that visit my yard. They are very territorial when it is their mating and breeding season.

I am linking up with Mary's Mosaic Monday and Sally's Blue Monday . I hope you will join in with these fun memes. Thanks to Mary and Sally for hosting and thank you for stopping by my post. Have a great week!

Friday, January 14, 2011

Working a full time job makes it hard for me to go on the chase for lifers. I am a little envious of other birders who can run and see new birds at any time. So, when I do get the chance to see a "rare" bird on the weekends I grab my hubby and I am on the go too. On this weekend the rare bird was a Golden Crowned Sparrow, sighted in Kent County across the Chespeake Bay. The Golden-crowned_Sparrow is a western bird, seen in the west coast states of the USA. I used Wikipedia's link for a photo because even though I saw the bird I was not able to get a photo. Still I was a happy birder, just being able to see the Golden Crowned Sparrow and to add a new bird to my life list.

Here a few of the other birds we saw in the same area as the Golden Crowned Sparrow.

A field of Snow Geese

White Throated Sparrows, Cardinal and Bluejays. Every once in a while my new lifer the Golden Crowned Sparrow would join these other birds down on the ground.

Cedar Waxwings

Not a bird but, I thought this sheep sticking its head thru the fence was funny and cute.

After being able to see the Golden Crowned Sparrow twice, hubby and I visited the Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge. It was a cold windy so most of the birding was done by car on the wildlife drive.

One of the first birds we saw at the refuge was the Bald Eagle.

The Bufflehead ducks and some Scaups pictured below were bobbing around in the Chesapeake Bay.

A view of the Eastern Neck Wildlife Refuge.

These are my Camera Critters for this week, I hope you enjoyed them. To see more cute and wonderful critters please visit Misty Dawn's Camera Critters

Thanks for stopping by to see my post. Have a great weekend and good birding!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

For this weeks Mosaic Monday I thought I would show some of my favorite backyard birds. The birds enjoy the feeders in the winter months especially when there is snow on the ground. They need a reliable source of food for wintertime survival. I usually try to keep foods high in fat and energy like suet, peanuts can provide protein and high calorie food like the sunflower seeds. I have a tree nearby and a tangled mess of a trumpet vine that the birds hide in for protection from predators. I also have a heated birdbath for clean drinking water.

In this mosaic are some of my favorite yardbirds.. the Cardinal, Junco, White Throated Sparrow, Pine Siskin, Redbreasted Nuthatch, Whitebreasted Nuthatch, bottom row are the Pine Warbler, Carolina Wren and the American Goldfinch. These photos in the mosaic below were taken with my Canon Power Shot.

The Cardinals look pretty with a snowy background and are a pretty red to show off for Ruby Tuesday.

Male Cardinal on birdcam

For this weeks Mellow Yellow Monday I have one of my favorite and colorful winter birds the Pine Warbler.

Pine Warbler on Birdcam

Birdcam captured just one of the many squirrels I have hanging on my bird feeders.

I was really happy to get a Wingscape Birdcam for a Christmas present. So now I can see my yardbirds that visit when I am at work. Below, I also made a mosaic of some of the birdcam captures.

The birds seen below on my birdcam are the RB Nuthatch, WB Nuthatch, Pine Siskins, Goldies and Pine Warbler, Cardinal, Chickadees, Titmouse and the squirrel who wanted a closeup shot for his portfolio.

Of course a lot of my birdcam photos are of squirrels and a night time visitor the raccoon.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

On the way home New Years Day hubby and I stopped at the Blackwater Wildlife Refuge. The visitor center was closed but the drive was open. You never know what birds you might see at Blackwater, it seems different every time I go.

For my critter post I am showing what we saw at Blackwater NWR.... thousands of Snow Geese, adult and juvenile Bald Eagles, Great Blue Herons, ducks and thousands of Canada Geese.

Photos look better when you click for a larger image.

This not the greatest photo, but I thought it was funny the geese started flying right towards our car.

You can check out the eagle cam at the refuge here Blackwater NWR eagle cam follow the progress of the Eagles nest and when the first egg appears. It is pretty neat to watch.

They appear in the distance but there are two Great Blue Herons and one Juvenile Eagle in this photo below.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

On New Year's Eve and New Years day Hubby and I took unplanned trip to Ocean City and Assateague. These are some of the sunset photos from Assateague Island. Assateague Island is a great place to see wildlife. As we were watching the sunset a flock of geese flew over, a small flock of geese and ducks were off further in the bay, a wild pony was nearby, we saw a few sika deers... these deers were introduced back in 1920, many Yellow Rump Warlbers, and an unidentified hawk.

It was getting late and we wanted to look for a motel for the night so we had to leave this beautiful sunset. I'll show some more on another skywatch of this same sunset as we were driving the whole sky lit up with color.

To see more beautiful skies click here Skywatch Friday thanks to the great hosting team Sylvia, Wren, Sandy, Fishing Guy and Klaus.

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About me

I am married and have one son in his 20's. I live in Maryland, USA. Retired since Dec 2014 My hobbies are traveling, hiking, birding, taking photos and anything nature related.
Contact:eileen.inmd@gmail.com

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